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Electronic, tire disposal bins planned at Middletown station

Staff report
Bins to handle electronics and tires are being planned as additions at the Town of Middletown Transfer Station.

Manager Roger Davis told the town board at its August 2 workshop that a small bin for disposal of electronics should be on site within a month. Because of handling requirements, the electronics items must be left in a designated area and placed into the bin by transfer station personnel, he said.

Details for adding a bin for tire disposal are still be worked out. Mr. Davis said he’s hopeful that a box for tires will be available on a regular schedule starting in September.
In addition to updating the board about these transfer station upgrades, Mr. Davis reported on a continuing problem of patrons failing to follow rules at the facility.

Two rules infractions incidents at the facility recently ended up with transfer station personnel making formal complaints and the violators being taken to court for legal resolution of the cases.
Mr. Davis indicated that, despite the town having a “no black bags” rule in place for more than a decade, a number of patrons continue to ignore this requirement.

He stated that several times each week, transfer station users are told that they cannot bring black bags to the facility and must take their garbage back.

Some of these transfer station users volunteer to empty the contents of their bags to show that the contents meet the requirements for items that are accepted at the facility. That’s not the point, according to Mr. Davis.

“We are not going to spend half our day sorting people’s garbage just because they can’t follow the rules,” he said, voicing his frustration with users who fail to obey the rules for the transfer station.
There have also been several incidents of people leaving their garage near the transfer station gates when the facility is not open. The manager said these violators are subject to the fines and related penalties imposed in the town’s transfer regulations.

Mr. Davis said another constant problem is the placement of other types of garbage in the container reserved for newspaper and other recyclable paper.

“It doesn’t matter how many signs I put up, some people will throw anything, anywhere. It’s really not that hard to follow the rules,” he stated.